Trophies and Sparring Gear
by Yotsubadancesintherain5
Summary: The dojo starts putting up fliers for the annual tournament. Pearl makes a decision. Written for Take Your Fandom to Work Day.


**A/N: Originally posted on AO3 on May 12 2017**

**A sequel to "A Sky-Blue Mat and Braces."**

**Sparring story not based on actual events, just a reference to one of my other fics involving martial arts.**

When Pearl first walked into the dojo and put away her shoes and socks she didn't notice the flyer taped to the wall. She bowed to the flags and headed out onto the mat, passing by the beginner's class. She picked up her card from the sea of purple and let it fall into the slot that announced who had showed up. She headed over to the board that detailed what technique and kicks would be on her next test. It was times like this that she wished she was in the stripe system; green belt had so much technique. It would be better if she could perfect the technique in small doses.

She finished studying the board and got to stretching. She could feel the outline of her knee brace through the fabric of her uniform pants and pulled on it slightly. She wouldn't make that mistake again.

The beginner's class ended, with some announcements that Pearl couldn't hear because she was concentrating on getting up quickly, and it was time for the intermediate class. Pearl was somewhere in the middle of the mat and when the highest level student in the top left corner said, "Attention, bow" in Korean class began.

It was a routine class and Pearl felt like she was getting better at rolling. At the end of class the instructor said that the tournament was going to arrive next month and there were still open spots to sign up. She asked who was planning on signing up and Pearl slowly raised her hand, thinking that she could do a demonstration.

Now there was the issue of who was going to be her partner.

"You're going to sign up for the tournament?" Sheena asked. "Is it for sparring? Demonstration?"

"Demonstration," Pearl replied, her arm stretched over to touch her toes. The mat squeaked when she tried to drag the heels of her feet further out.

"I did sparring last year," Sheena said. "I haven't been to sparring in a while. Motorcycle gang takes up a lot of time."

At Pearl's bemused look she grinned and said, "Just kidding."

"I would have liked to do sparring," said Pearl. "But where would they put me?"

"Well, the master is always there for tournaments and he probably would have gotten some adults for you to fight. Tell them to go easy on you," said Sheena. "They did that when I turned eighteen and had to fight the adults. But do you have the gear for it?"

At Pearl's head shake Sheena said, "Yeah, you've gotta have the gear. No bare-bones fighting, at least not at a tournament. The last time I saw no gear was at regular sparring. And a kid had long nails and scratched up somebody's hand."

Pearl winced. "What happened after that?"

"Suspension," Sheena said. "He did it intentionally. Can't lose control when you're fighting."

"Water, circle, coordinated power," Pearl said, reciting the principles. "He should've kept his nails short anyway."

"That, too," Sheena chuckled. "Anyway, do you know what you want to do for the demonstration?"

"I have an idea of it," Pearl said. "I just need a partner."

She fidgeted a little before asking, "Would it be all right if you could be my partner?"

"Of course it's okay," said Sheena. "We could do a little skit. The mean red belt with the black stripe picking on a purple belt. I mean, if it's allowed. Time constraints."

She stood up and rolled her shoulders. "But first we need to work out your idea."

The day of the tournament arrived quickly and the dojo was unusually full of people. Pearl stood in the middle of the mat and bowed with the rest of the students. They were sorted into divisions and Pearl sat with the other purple belts. She felt something touch her shoulder and looked up to see Sheena there.

"Ready?" she asked. Pearl nodded. Sheena settled next to her, and said, "Don't panic if something goes off plan. Just roll with it."

Pearl nodded again and directed her attention to the other side of the mat. There was sparring going on with the younger kids. There was sound of their gear smacking against each other and one of the black belts held up a white flag. He directed the point to the kid that didn't have a small red stripe in the back of her belt. The sparring stopped after a few more hits and one of the black belts went to take out the stripe.

She watched as the sparring continued and thought that she would do that when she had more practice. And the gear of course.

Eventually it was her turn. Pearl stood up and walked to the square. Sheena stood opposite her and at the instructor's call they bowed to one another. There wasn't enough time for backstory.

Sheena moved to make a punch and Pearl redirected it away from her, making Sheena do a front roll. Sheena retaliated with a side kick, which Pearl blocked and caught, twisting it so that Sheena rolled yet again.

There were a few more kicks and punches, until Pearl missed a dodge and Sheena kicked her, not hard, in the stomach. Pearl caught herself and did a back fall.

But now the demonstration was improvised. Thinking fast, Pearl got up into a squat and swung her leg out. The low roundhouse struck the front of Sheena's legs and she fell into a front fall. Pearl acted quickly, pinning Sheena's legs into an X and lifting up the back of her uniform to "finish" her off with a palm strike to the neck.

Pearl got up and bowed to the instructors, her heart pounding. Sheena got up as well, bowing to the instructors. She turned to face Pearl and when they bowed she had a sly smile on her face.

It stuck with Pearl so much that she still thought of it even when the instructors lined up the demonstrators and left trophies at their feet. Pearl got second place, her trophy a slender cylinder, the color of obsidian and the two figurines on top frozen in sparring.

The demonstrators bowed to the instructors and Pearl heard praise from the instructors as she and the rest of the demonstrators walked up to shake their teachers' hands.

"That was pretty good," Sheena said as they left. She poked at one of the heads of the figures on the trophy. "Sorry for kicking you in the stomach, though."

"I think it all worked out," Pearl said. She smiled. "I had a good partner, after all."


End file.
